Despite winning the 1998 under 21 hurling championship, Cullion's progression to last year's senior championship final took everybody by surprise. Star forward Colin Whyte admits that a county final appearance was beyond his wildest dreams at the outset of the year. Just when it seemed the county senior hurling championship had become an annual two-horse race between Lough Lene Gaels and Castlepollard, along come Clonkill and Cullion to provide a novel county final pairing. And while Clonkill had been threatening a breakthrough for some time, Cullion literally came from nowhere to contest their first senior final. Having been relegation candidates in 1999 and 2000, their progress last year was nothing short of remarkable. Even star forward Colin Whyte admits that their appearance in last year's county decider came as a surprise to him. "I don't think any of us expected to reach the county final at the start of the year," he says. "Most people were saying that we would be lucky to avoid relegation and I suppose they were entitled to after what happened in the two previous years. But we got a couple of wins and our confidence started to grow after that," he adds. Whyte, who finished as the championship's top scorer with 1-25 to his credit, attributes Cullion's dramatic change in fortunes to team trainer Benny O'Dowd. "Benny's influence was enormous. He instilled the belief in us that we were just as good as anyone else. He made us realise that we could achieve anything if we put our minds to it. Without him, we might have been battling against relegation again." Drawn in the same group as champions Lough Lene Gaels, Cullion were expected to be involved in a relegation dogfight with St. Brigid's. But with several members of the 1998 under 21 championship-winning team on board, the maroon and whites were no longer prepared to settle for survival. They were intent on making their presence felt. Under the management of Aidan Gilhooley, Cullion made a winning start to the championship by overcoming St. Brigid's on a 1-16 to 1-9 scoreline at Cusack Park on May 27. The opening quarter was evenly contested but a goal from Kieran Carroll handed Cullion the initiative and they were 1-6 to 0-3 to the good at half-time. The Dalystown men reduced the deficit to four points early in the second half but thereafter, it was all Cullion as a flurry of points from Colin Whyte and Robbie Galvin put them 10 clear. Niall Seery pulled back a goal late on for St. Brigid's but Cullion still emerged as comfortable winners. A second victory would virtually assure Cullion of qualification for the knock-out stages and they got it against Raharney at The Downs on June 19. Despite facing into a strong breeze and driving rain in the first half, Cullion went in at half-time on level terms. The sides were still level 10 minutes into the second half but in the final 20 minutes, Cullion reeled off seven unanswered points to secure a 0-12 to 0-5 victory. Robbie Galvin was the best player on view, registering six points from play. Eleven days later, Cullion met Lough Lene Gaels in a top-of-the-table clash at Loughegar. The winners would automatically qualify for the semi-final with the losers having to be content with a quarter-final place. Cullion made most of the early running and were a point in front at the end of the first quarter. But the more experienced Gaels gradually took control and had established a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at the interval. The Collinstown side effectively ended the game as a contest just after half-time when a David Cunningham goal was followed by points from Daniel Carty, Joey Williams and Gary Briody. Declan Gillen and Wayne Gilhooley scored late goals for Cullion but they were comprehensively beaten on a 2-5 to 1-15 scoreline. Castletown-Geoghegan provided the quarter-final opposition for the maroon and whites on July 14 at Cusack Park. Castletown's form in the group stages had been indifferent but they were still strongly fancied to see off the challenge of the Cullion men. Cullion made a dream start with John O'Connell scoring a goal in their first attack. The black and ambers recovered well, however, and were 0-7 to 1-3 in front at the break. Castletown increased their advantage to three points on the restart but then came the Cullion fightback. With their defence holding firm and Whyte, Galvin and Ollie Fay finding the target regularly, they roared into a 1-13 to 0-13 lead with time almost up. Castletown made a desperate attempt to salvage an equalizing goal but failed to do so and Cullion were through to the last four for the first time in 19 years. "Beating Castletown was a huge breakthrough for us," Whyte recalls. "They were a massive scalp and it proved to everyone that we couldn't be taken lightly anymore." If the win over Castletown-Geoghegan was a shock, what followed in the semi-final was sensational. Few could see past a Castlepollard victory, and a comfortable one at that, but Cullion had other ideas and duly created the biggest upset of the senior championship in many years. Just as in the Castletown game, Cullion made an excellent start. A speculative shot from Frank Shaw deceived Castlepollard goalkeeper Seamus Lynch and ended up in the net. Before the blue and golds could recover, Colin Whyte added a second goal to give the underdogs a 2-1 to 0-2 lead. At half-time, the side from the outskirts of Mullingar were 2-3 to 0-3 in front. Shaw extended Cullion's advantage to seven points on the restart but inevitably 'Pollard roared back with points from Adrian Smyth and Robert McLoughlin and a goal by Darren McCormack. Further points from Kevin Brazil and Alfie Devine eventually restored parity for Castlepollard but Cullion had the final say when Whyte held his nerve to slot over the winning point from a 60 metres free. Needless to say, the 2-8 to 1-10 scoreline made pretty reading for Cullion supporters. The county final pitted Cullion against a Clonkill side who had also upset the odds by defeating reigning champions Lough Lene Gaels in the other semi-final. Once again, Cullion were underdogs but this was a role they had revelled in all season and they certainly weren't complaining. Clonkill got off to a flying start, with Brendan Murtagh raising a white flag after just 10 seconds and Paddy Dowdall firing home the opening goal in the fourth minute. Cullion pulled back two points but they were picking the ball out of the net for a second time when Enda Loughlin flashed a powerful shot from 30 metres past goalkeeper Jim Baker. Cullion appeared shell-shocked but then a goal from Frank Shaw left just three points between the sides. The green and golds responded, however, with points from Ger Fagan, Andrew Mitchell and Murtagh (two), to take a 2-6 to 1-2 lead into the interval. Cullion were favoured by a stiff breeze in the second half and within 30 seconds of the restart, they were back in it when Declan Gillen scored their second goal. When Robbie Galvin tagged on a point in the third minute, the margin was back to three and Clonkill looked to have a major battle on their hands. But that was as close as Cullion came. Man of the match Andrew Mitchell grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck at centre back while throughout the field, Clonkill's work-rate increased dramatically. Cullion's final wide count was 15 but several of those misses can be attributed to the enormous pressure their forwards were put under by the Clonkill rearguard. Points from Fagan (two) and Sean Loughlin had pushed Clonkill six clear (2-9 to 2-3) after 52 minutes. Loughlin and Declan Gillen exchanged points in the closing stages before substitute Martin Scally sealed a 2-11 to 2-4 victory for Clonkill in injury-time. Whyte, who is an integral member of the St. Loman's senior football team and won a Leinster minor championship medal with Westmeath in 2000, dismisses the notion that big-match nerves got the better of Cullion. "I wouldn't say we were nervous - it was just one of those days when nothing went right for us. We were chasing the game from an early stage and once the wides started to mount, things became very difficult. "While it's never nice to lose a county final, I think it was a great year overall. We improved so much and if we can continue to improve in the coming months, we mightn't be too far away again.' Son of Seamus Whyte who won senior championship medals with Lough Lene Gaels in 1975 and '76, the GMIT student is eagerly looking forward to the new championship and the prospect of Cullion surpassing last year's achievements. "Now that we have lost the element of surprise, things will be more difficult for us but I have no doubt that we are capable of rising to whatever challenge faces us. "We have been drawn in a favourable enough group (Castletown-Geoghegan, Brownstown and St. Oliver Plunkett's are the other teams) and hopefully we can make an even greater impact than last year. We now have the belief in ourselves and when you have that, anything is possible." The Cullion team which contested the senior hurling championship final for the first time was: Jim Baker; John Shaw, Philip Galvin, Denis Reynolds; Kenny McKinley, Wayne Gilhooley, Mark Gaye; Paul Reynolds, Robbie Galvin (0-1); Frank Shaw (1-0), John O'Connell, Ollie Fay; Steve Martin, Declan Gillen (1-2), Colin Whyte (0-1). Subs used: Eoin Clarke, Declan Critchley and Kieran Carroll. Tweet

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